Caption: Chemical solvents system. Researcher working with a chromatograph to study ways of mixing components of products such as cosmetics. He is operating the keypad of a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) machine (Waters Alliance 2695 Separations Module), which has a Waters 996 Photodiode Array Detector (upper centre). Four solvents are being used here: methanol, water, acetonitrile, and a buffer solution. The researcher is working for Disperse Technologies, a cosmetics and dispersion technologies company founded in the UK in 1995. It develops new ways of manufacturing creams, lotions and other products for use in the cosmetics, toiletries and household goods, pharmaceutical and industrial sectors.